Burnout among surgical residents in a lower-middle income country - Are we any different?

Abstract

ObjectiveTo assess the presence of burnout among surgical residents working at various public sector hospitals in Pakistan.DesignA survey based on MBI was used to assess the presence of burnout. Residents were grouped into Group A (Burn out) or Group B (No burn out). Pearson Test was used to see any correlation between different variables and burn out. A p value of <0.05 was taken as significant.Setting/participantsA cross sectional survey of all the surgical residents at various public sector hospitals in Lahore was done.ResultsA total of 133 residents responded to our questionnaire. 74% respondents were male and 26% were female. All residents showed a very high level of burnout. 50.4% residents had high levels of burn out on the EE category, 49.6% in the DP category and 53.4% residents had low levels on the PA scale. When assessed for overall burn out 57.9% residents had overall burnout. Males were more prone to develop burnout. Job dissatisfaction was the most prevalent reason for burn out. Owning a smartphone was significantly associated with development of burnout. Awareness regarding the burnout syndrome and having children were two factors which had a protective effect against burnout syndrome. Marriage, working hours, financial conditions, smoking and consumption of coffee/tea had no effect on development of burnout syndrome.ConclusionThere is high prevalence of burnout among the surgical residents in our hospitals. Unsatisfactory training is the number one reason for development of this syndrome.

Impact of burnout among surgeons and residents at a Tertiary Care Hospital of Pakistan.

“…These values are relatively higher compared to a survey reporting 57.9% rate of overall burnout among surgical residents. 17 Similarly, our study puts the overall rate of burnout among gynecologists at 75%-a higher figure compared to previous reports from Pakistan, which showed that 44.1% of gynecological residents were dissatisfied with their career choice. 8 Our study also reports increased risk of burnout among ophthalmological residents and consultants-a prospect hitherto unexplored in Pakistan.…”

Burnout syndrome among medical residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The heterogeneity chi-squared was 609.75 (p<0.001) with an I 2 statistic of 96.9%. This comparison of the proportion of residents presenting burnout between all types of specialties suggests that the specialties are distributed into three groups with different levels of the syndrome: a group composed of general surgery,[ 41 , 42 ] anesthesiology,[ 51 ] obstetrics and gynecology,[ 31 – 35 ] and orthopedics[ 38 , 39 ] with a high prevalence of 42.5%; a group formed by internal medicine,[ 45 – 49 ] plastic surgery[ 40 ] and pediatrics,[ 36 , 37 ] with a moderate prevalence of 29.4%; and finally a group including otolaryngology[ 25 , 30 ] and neurology,[ 16 ] with a low burnout syndrome prevalence of 23.5% ( Fig 2 ). However, no statistically significant difference was found by meta-regression (p = 0.17).…”

Leaving surgical training: some of the reasons are in surgery

“…While there are several studies describing coping strategies used by medical professionals, techniques specifically used by surgical trainees to help them cope with their lengthy training period are less well described. Four studies were identified that discuss strategies used by trainees to help them cope with stress and burnout . Descriptions of the coping strategies employed by trainees is provided in Tables S1 and S2.…”